A NEW restaurant, Sala Thai, has just opened, one with great promise. The proprietor, Khun Sumet Shinno, proudly maintains Sala Thai Restaurant and Garden will be the most romantic dining venue in Pattaya, no idle boast when one considers the ambiance of the location. This will be enhanced at night with gentle, candle lighting under the stars.
The restaurant nestles in the middle of idyllic parkland at The Village Shopping Centre, from where it commands the terrain. Surrounded by lush vegetation and lakes, at one with nature, the traditional wooden architecture of the open-air restaurant represents a welcome change from the majority of enclosed dining venues. Here, guests may relax, lulled by the gentle murmurings of the nearby creek and the soft breezes, as their children, their meals finished, happily frolic in the secure children’s play area, nearby, the doting parents knowing their offspring are in safe hands. As every parent with young children knows all too well, having one’s children ably taken care of takes a great weight off their minds and allows them to savour their food in peace.
By being set in The Village Shopping Centre, one doesn’t have the concern of negotiating the busy traffic of Central Pattaya, whilst attempting to find a safe parking place. Here there is ample parking for 300 vehicles that is conveniently approached from Sukhumvit Road and so is completely hassle free. Either before or after dining at the Sala Thai Restaurant, one can browse the new shops due to open shortly or those like Sun Thai Decor, Phuket Mermaids, Top & Bottoms bikini emporium and the wine shop, already open. The new shops will include a bookshop selling the latest editions, a music CD shop, and a gift shop, amongst others, as well as the Thai Silk Museum.
Khun Sumet has managed to acquire a top-class Thai chef, winner of several culinary awards, who, until recently, worked for a five-star hotel chain. Consequently, Sala Thai is able to offer an extremely extensive Thai cuisine drawn from the four quarters of the country. However, Khun Sumet emphasises that the prices at Sala Thai are very reasonable and considerably cheaper than those in downtown Pattaya. For example, one can feed a party of four adults for as little as between Bt1000 and Bt1,200. This will include four main dishes as well as beer, about which more shortly.
Eating Thai style, all sharing, one can order a typical selection such as Som Tam Spiced Catfish (Bt120); Tom Yum Kung – shrimps, Bt220 for a dish or Bt120 for individual bowls; Snapper in a sweet sauce(Bt280); and Spicy Steamed Squid with kale – Pra muk sa dung ka na kob (Bt199). With a jug of beer at Bt290, that brings the total cost of the meal to Bt1,109, which is as stated, containing no hidden taxes or service charges.
Other specialties of the house include Spicy Prawn with Lemon Grass – Yam tak krai (Bt120), or five pieces of Deep Fried Shrimp Doughnuts – Tort mun kung (Bt120). Because of the German beer specialty, the Sala Thai menu includes Deep Fried Pork Leg (Bt250), or three varieties of German sausage – spicy, mustard and sweet (Bt220). As can be seen from the above, the prices are indeed good value, with no differentiation between Thais and foreigners and for the following two months there is a 10% discount available for all.
Now, we must mention the draught Erdinger Weissbrau beer, from a top-class Bavarian brewery. Connoisseurs of German beer regard Erdinger as being the champagne of beers and its ultra-smooth taste bears that opinion out, as I can attest, having sampled a glass. The two main beers available are white, wheat beer and dark, brewed with hops. Again the prices are very reasonable, comparing very competitively with bars, clubs and other venues selling similar German beer downtown. A 0.3 litre glass costs Bt100, a 0.5 litre glass Bt150, and a 1 litre jug Bt290, all inclusive. There is also the option of a high column for Bt850, should one wish to party. For those who prefer wine, you can purchase a bottle at the nearby wine shop with a corkage fee of Bt300.
So far in the first 10 days of opening (when this article was written), over 120 guests have come to dine at Sala Thai Restaurant, some of these returnees, having identified an extremely attractive dining venue, These guests have been 80% farang, with Thai wives, of course, apart from the Russian contingent that constitute half this number, and 20% Thai. Foreigners will be extremely pleased to hear that Sala Thai Restaurant has a farang-friendly policy, the serving staff taking note of the nationality of the guests in question and adjusting the intensity of the spice to match more tender foreign palates. Chili-mad Thais, however, can rest assured that the throat-roasting quality of their food will be to their liking. Khun Sumet emphasizes that Sala Thai specializes in catering to those who truly appreciate authentic Thai ciusine, cooked in the traditional manner.
To encourage guests, there is a membership scheme which offers 10% discount for the whole year and for those wishing to throw birthday parties, a free birthday cake for the group. For those who appreciate Thai cuisine at its best in incomparable surroundings dining at Sala Thai restaurant and Garden is an experience not to be missed.
Sala Thai restaurant The Village Shopping Centre, 383/2 Moo 12, Sukhumvit Road., Pattaya., Tel: 038-074-649